


AFTER THE RED BLAST

by Atria_saal



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Anger, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Revenge, Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-01-13 15:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18471340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atria_saal/pseuds/Atria_saal
Summary: What happened to Shepard when she activated the crucible? The explosion did not kill her but how did she survive when everyone thought she was dead…





	1. Dreams or realities

**Author's Note:**

> I really liked the Mass Effect series and as many I was very disappointed by the end of Mass Effect 3. I sincerely hope that Bioware will continue this series with Commander Shepard. While waiting I decided to write this fiction. Sorry, English is not my first language, you will probably find my vocabulary weird, this story was written in French but I wanted to share it with you.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Shepard when she activated the crucible? The explosion did not kill her but how did she survive when everyone thought she was dead…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked the Mass Effect series and as many I was very disappointed by the end of Mass Effect 3. I sincerely hope that Bioware will continue this series with Commander Shepard. While waiting I decided to write this fiction. Sorry, English is not my mother tongue, you will probably find my vocabulary weird (this story was written in French but I wanted to share it with you).

I opened my eyes, suffocating. The air was laden with black smoke, I could hardly breathe. I felt a weight on my chest, I had to be covered by the rubble due to the explosion.

God, did that work? And Liara?  “ _Liara_ ” I shouted her name but given my condition, no sound came out of my mouth. It was like those nightmares  in which you try in vain to scream without any sound coming out.

I was trying to assess my situation :  I knew I had some broken ribs, my left arm had to be broken somewhere too because it hurt me badly. And what worried me most was the piece of metal I had received in the abdomen, when we were trying to reach the beam that would send us to the citadel.

I had lost a lot of blood. If I was not dead, it would not be long ... I was only hoping that the crucible had worked, that the earth and the galaxy were saved, that the crew of Normandy and my beloved had escaped.

" _Liara_ ” Her name was again on my lips, like a prayer ... with all my soul I called Liara .

I do not know if I had lost consciousness again or if I lived a waking dream, but I found myself again in the stars with Liara: this gift she had wanted to offer me before jumping into battle. We spin together as I hug her. A white light shone on the horizon like a sunrise, like a hope on a new world.

I understood why she had wanted to offer me this present before we are separated : it was not a goodbye, but rather the comfort and the strength of hope. This hope that allowed us to fight against all the forces that had opposed us, while everything seemed lost.

I fell asleep again. This time I found myself, again, in this wood that I saw in my nightmares since the onslaught of the earth.

I was expecting to see this little boy who haunted my nights, but I found myself facing the glowing form of Harbinger.

- _Shepard we have underestimated you._..

- _What are you still doing here, I've destroyed you !_

- _Yes indeed; but there remains some residual energy on the citadel that allows us to speak to you. It will not last, but before we leave we want to understand.  
_

I looked at the glowing form, my face closed, carrying the wrath of those billions of lives that the reapers had slaughtered.

- _Understand what   ?_

- _Of all the organic beings in the Galaxy you were the only one to stand up, to stand against us while you were alone, how could a human have achieved such a thing, to gather a whole galaxy to defeat us... according to our data it was impossible?_

_-I'm a human not a data you know ! And there is a human proverb that says "as long as there is life, there is hope". It's this insignificant thing " Hope" that pushed me, with all the others, to fight again and again to save our lives._

- _We wanted preserved life, keep you from doing you harm, preserve your future from chaos..._

- _That's what you call  " preserve life " ? Maybe those who have programmed you, should have installed a better dictionary  in your data !_

_You have turned the galaxy into chaos, you are killing us, and you are turning us into filthy and disgusting creatures whose sole purpose is to fulfill your will to kill all organic life forms. That's the future you offer us? Being your slaves as Proteans? Machines that obey   you ?  Never !_

 

- _You could have controlled us Shepard ... You would have had a great power in your hands, all the organic are hungry for power. That's why you end up killing each other. Imagine what you could do with a fleet of thousands of indestructible ships. Mankind would have dominated the Galaxy Shepard..._

 

- _You know your mistake is that you are machines! Neither more nor less than machines. You cannot understand the organic because you were not designed for that ... otherwise you would have understood that the power is not the only motivation of the living beings   there is hope, love, justice ... things that you will never be able to conceive despite the so-called perfection of which you are boasting._

_Your lines of codes have taught you only one thing, a program that you have been implementing at a specific time for many thousands of years: eradicating organic beings. What interest for me to lose everything to take control of vulgar machines?_

_I did not fight to lose everything, I did not fight to control you, I fought like the billions of living beings of this galaxy to destroy you and finish with this cycle._

 

The glow emitted by Harbinger was beginning to fade. The voice was angry but powerless.

- _You_ _well_ _know  that organic and synthetic always end up fighting Shepard: look at the Quarians and the Geths. This will happen again in the future because your children will build new synthetic beings who will revolt against the organic ones._

 

- _There's something I learned from two synthetic friends who helped me fight you:   Synthetics can not know in advance how organic will react to a situation because too many factors you ignore are beyond your programming algorithms. We are motivated by feelings that escape you, we are endowed with FREE WILL ... we build our own future._

_You remember this conversation we had on Virmire in Saren’s base? You have boasted of having neither beginning nor end. Leviathan confessed you were created by him... and I put an end to your existence. That's all. You are not God, you are not at the level of the organic beings since you have no freedom of choice and action. Harbinger you are just an AI  programmed  to destroy life, it was time to erase you definitively._

 

This time, he took the form of the little boy who haunted my nightmares.

- _The synthesis could have allowed you to save us, organics and synthetics, to save your friends: EDI and Legion..._

 

\- _Stop taking the appearance of this child! You are not innocent, besides this child that you strive to show me,   you killed him before my eyes, without mercy ... with millions of others. There are too many living beings who have lost their lives because of you. For too long._

_You compare yourself to EDI and Legion, but unlike you, they had learned to go beyond what they were programmed for, they had chosen to protect the life of organics, to protect those they had come to love. It is something that escapes you again because you are only a vulgar machine ... Now you have destroyed too many civilizations, your disappearance will not bring them back but at least justice will be done._

The child did not say anything, the reddish glow trembled and then silently extinguished.

 

I could still hear whispers of children   “ _Please wake up_ "...

Was this stupid catalyst again? Maybe we should blow up the whole citadel to get rid of it permanently.

Unable to move and crippled with pain I sank again into sleep.


	2. CHILDREN

_\- Do you think she'll survive?_

_\- I do not know Leah. I used all the medigel we had on her wounds. It would be nice if she opened her eyes. Did you take water and rations?_

_\- Yes, I put them in my bag just before closing the airlock._

I felt a small hand clutching mine, instinctively I hugged it back.

_-Tom, she's moving!_

I tried to open my eyelids to see two small, worried faces bending over me. Blessed be God, it was not that damned AI. I tried to talk.

_-Who …_

My voice was raspy, my throat burned horribly. The little boy, Tom apparently, pulled a bottle of water out of his bag and brought it to my lips. Seeing that I was struggling to get up, he held my head so I could drink. The mere swallowing made me terribly bad. Stupidly, I was thinking what Miranda would have said if she saw me in that state "Shepard you're really trying to ruin my work, aren't you?". 

After a few sips, I could finally talk.

_-Who are you ? What are you doing here ?_

The boy spoke first: _"My name is Tom and here is my little sister Leah"._

Indeed they were both alike. He ran his hand through his short hair.

 _"We live in the ventilation ducts, our parents were killed during Saren attack"_. I tried to sit up to see them better, they helped me as best they could by putting their arms under my shoulders. The medigel had begun to take effect: I had much less pain and stopped bleeding.

_-I do not know how you did to survive this hell ... but thank you, thank you for everything._

_-Luckily our refuge is in an area of ducts accessible by watertight airlocks. When we realized that the Citadel was moving and people were shouting around us, we thought the reapers were attacking the station, we closed the airlocks and stayed hidden for several hours. That's what saved our lives because the keepers completely depressurized the station ... all the people are dead._

He looked at me with tears in his eyes. In spite of the painful images that he relived while talking to me, he continued his story. _"When the station stopped, the air was breathable again. There were corpses everywhere»_

I groan inside thinking of all the horrors that these children had experienced. This war had spared no one.

_-How did you find me ?_

_-When the citadel stopped above the Earth, the keepers began to move towards the lower areas of the station, we followed them through the ducts. They started a huge beam that looked like a big processing machin. There were thousands of bodies on the floor. I did not want to go on because Leah was too scared. It was horrible._

She sobbed, grabbing my arm, despite the throbbing pain, I began to press her against me as I held her brother's hand.

_-Kids it's over, you no longer have to fear nothing_

If I had to fight to defend them, even dragging myself on the ground I will. I was all the more determined when I saw that my Shuriken was on the floor by my side.

Tom was the first to recover, he wiped his face with the sleeve of his garment soiled by dust. He cleared his throat and spoke again.

_-We saw a man arrive, he was not a soldier because he had neither uniform nor armor, he did not even have a weapon ... He looked more like a businessman. He climbed onto the platform that took him to the top of the citadel. He came down a moment later with his body half turned, it looked like his skin was changing into printed circuit boards._

_-The Illusive man ... I say, grinning_

- _A soldier has arrived, I think you called him "Anderson". After this illusive man shot himself in the head we thought you were dead like the other two. But you crawled on the platform that drove you up. We waited a little but the platform came down without you, we were preparing to climb on it when a violent explosion shook the top of the citadel followed by a red light wave that shook the whole station, all the machines stopped. When calm returned, we took the platform and found you under a pile of debris. You were unconscious, there was so much blood on you, we thought you would never wake up._

Leah looked at me carefully and she finally spoke.

_-You killed the reapers? The war is over?_

_-Yes I think, but I have no way  to contact Admiral Hackett or Normandy to make sure..._

Tom suddenly exclaimed

_-Were you on the Normandy?_

_-Yes, it's my ship ..._

His eyes lit up

- _You are the Commander Shepard?_

_-Yes it's me. You know me ?_

His voice fills with admiration

_-You kidding! Everyone is talking about you, you are on all holos and even Leah is crazy about you, she says all the time that she will become a soldier like you to protect people! And there you killed the reapers! It's so great!_

They both hugged me, their gesture triggered a new wave of pain but I tried not to show them my discomfort. I thought back to all they had seen, all the horrors of this war, my eyes burned, tears began to flow. I prayed that everything would be over for good.

I felt Leah play with my hand with her finger she drew my veins, then she turned to me eyes filled with curiosity.

_-Who is Liara?_

I looked at her surprised.

- _That must be someone important to you because you did not stop saying her name when you were unconscious. You must love her very much;_

The little girl had not waited for my answer to draw conclusions that seemed obvious in her child universe. Ah ... children and their questions that embarrass you!

I began to smile stupidly, my mind stopped on my last night with Liara on the Normandy and I felt that the red rose to my cheeks. I wondered what I had said when I was unconscious ... I was hoping there was nothing embarrassing.

Leah pulled me from my thoughts with a gesture with her hand to make me understand that she was expecting an answer.

- _I would not have been able to do all this without Liara. She saved our lives, because without her discoveries we would never have been able to build the machine that killed the reapers.  People are talking about Commander Shepard but believe me kids, the one who saved the galaxy is Dr. Liara T'soni. I hope you meet her someday, she's so great, so dedicated ... incredibly sweet, and …_

Tom began to smile

_-Commandant just say that you love her_

I started to blush more

_-You do not imagine how much_

_"She must be as pretty as you,"_ said Leah, passing her little fingers on my cheek.

I smile at her.

I still felt my swollen lip, my brow bone was split, and I was almost certain to have a sore in my head. In short, I was far from having a presentable or pretty face. Besides, I had never thought of myself that way. I led a soldier's life, my physical condition was more important than knowing if I matched the current standards of beauty. When I first joined the Alliance, I often heard whistles or comments on my body, most of the soldiers found me attractive, but I had never asked myself this question. I was still lost in my thoughts about my early years in the alliance when Leah's voice reminded me of reality again.

_-How is your Liara?_

 Definitely this kid did not stop at nothing to satisfy her curiosity.

The scene seemed incongruous: the great Commander Shepard, after destroying the reapers, sat in rubble, despite her wounds, discussing her love life with two kids.What a snub to the fatal program of the reapers!

It made me feel good to have the kids by my side, the REAL kids, not the evil AI. They had the gift of making things lighter, simpler.

I replied with a smile

_-Ma Liara is a princess asari, she has beautiful eyes. She is as beautiful as she is intelligent and a great biotic warrior._

I thought back to the last moments with Liara as we ran towards the citadel's beam trying to avoid the deadly rays of the reapers. My heart stopped when I saw this vehicle spinning in the air and almost falling on her. She had barely dodged but she was hurt. I saw her face in blood. No ! Liara had to live, I was fighting for her to live, I should never have taken her into this suicidal fight: she was not a soldier ...

The idea of seeing her hurt or worse was frightening me. Without Liara I no longer had a reason to live. Fortunately Joker could have reached us to evacuate her immediately.

There was so much love in the few words of farewell we had exchanged. So much love and a promise: I was ready to give my life for Liara to live. I was hoping that the Normandy had escaped safely, that they had all survived.

_-Liara is ..._

I wanted to keep talking but my throat was tight. I could not stop my tears running silently ... I did not know if Liara was alive. There was a silent cry of my mind who saw that my heart had no reason to fight without Liara. I will not survive without Liara.

Leah must have realized my sadness, because I felt her little arms embrace me immediately to comfort me.


	3. LIARA : Water

 The Normandy had emergency landing on an uninhabited planet, but fortunately conducive to life: The air was breathable, vegetation grew in abundance. Joker was the first to set foot on this new ground, eager to be in the open air after all that had happened.

The pilot was still shaken to have abandoned his commander again. To tell the truth, the entire crew of the ship was still in shock, nobody dared to speak. The ship suffered minor damage that could be repaired within hours. The most disturbing was EDI, she had died down when the red tsunami had crossed the Normandy. Without her the ship seemed lifeless, her physical platform resting inert in the hangar deck.

I prayed to the goddess for Shepard to survive. Perhaps she had succeeded in destroying the reapers and that had also affected EDI. The crew had no way of checking, as Officer Traynor explained that the technicians had been able to re-establish only the flow of incoming communications: they could receive messages but could not send them for the moment.

Less than half an hour later, they received an audio communication from Admiral Hackett. When the Admiral confirmed the destruction of the reapers, all those who were on the Normandy shouted in unison.Vega lifted Dr. Chakwas into the air and kissed her on both cheeks. Tally threw herself into Garrus's arms, and Ashley and Traynor found themselves curiously hugging each other. I stayed in a corner of the room without participating in demonstrations of joy, no one was worried because nobody paid attention.

I waited feverishly for the admiral to continue his message. Not knowing, being anxious and ignorant about Shepard was definitely what was killing me. The fateful moment came when in a sad voice Hackett continued: _"Unfortunately we had a lot of losses, ground communications report a violent explosion at the top of the Citadel when starting the Crucible,"_ he continued speaking directly to me _"I'm sorry Liara, there is little chance Shepard survived."_

I groaned, expressing all the distress I had in me. The cries of joy were immediately replaced by slaughtered faces. I did not hear the rest of the Admiral's remarks because all of a sudden I felt emptied of all my energy, I clung to the rail and could no longer hold back my tears. Tali knelt next to me and hugged me, she tried to calm me down, but she too began to sob behind her mask. Shepard represented so much for each of us.

I do not know how long we had been clinging to each other, when my tears dried up, she asked me if I wanted to lie down. I nodded. My heart was heavy, my thoughts were confused, the reapers took everything from me. Instead of going to my cabin, I asked her to leave me because I wanted to go to Shepard's cabin ... I wanted to be alone there.

Just past the door, a ball of anguish formed in my throat, tears began to flow again, I threw myself on her bed,squeezing against me the t-shirt she wore the day before on our last night together: Shepard's scent was still there, reminding me every time she had hugged me, all the times she'd told me "I love you."

Tired of grief, heartbroken, I ended up slipping into a deep sleep. I was rudely awakened a few hours later.

Ashley came to tell me that the crew wanted to make a small ceremony for the commander and by mutual agreement they had decided that it would be me who would place the plaque on the wall of the missing. I was not ready for this and I found the approach a little fast. I expressed my reluctance to the lieutenant-commander.

_-Nobody knows what happened to her and you're already in a hurry to put a plate?_

_-Liara, you heard what the Admiral said "there is little chance she survived»..._

My grief turned to anger. 

_-Williams! Few chances do not mean no chance at all! Why do not you go looking for her instead of hanging on this damned plaque?_

_-Liara, we do not even know where we are and how long it will take us to get back to Earth, we have almost no means of communication ... the crew just wanted to pay homage to Shepard._

_-Sincerely, I do not know if I will have the strength._

The idea of hanging on the wall of the disappeared a plate in the name of Shepard bothered me, I had the impression to abandon her quickly to her fate. Ashley did not press and turned to the elevator to leave.

Garrus picked me up half an hour later. He did not dare to meet my eyes when he spoke to me and instead lowered his head: _"Liara, the others are waiting for you in the hall for the ceremony"_.

I think he disapproved as much as I did this too fast initiative; in his formulation he did not get involved but simply said "the others".

I followed Garrus meekly. I was lost in my thoughts, overcome by my sorrow when a whisper invades my mind: a discreet presence and then more and more persistent. The sensation was familiar because it permeated my whole being, it was like an imprint that only my mind could recognize, the only person with whom I had merged in the most intimate ways.

Shepard was alive, hurt but alive and she called me.

This sign brought me joy to the point I did not even realize that we had arrived at the wall of the missing. Everyone expected to see me in tears, broken by sorrow. The stupor became more apparent when Ashley handed me the plaque in the commander's name as a smile appeared on my lips. Dozens of puzzled faces instinctively turned to Garrus trying to understand what was happening to me.

The Turian shrugged to show that he had absolutely no idea what could happen to me, I heard him add in his metallic voice _"it must be grief."_


	4. LIARA: Fire

All eyes were on me. I ended up saying _"Shepard is alive, she is hurt, we have to go and get her"_.

Ashley gave me an annoyed look

_-Liara, you are sad and we are all sad. But Shepard will not come back. You heard what the admiral said ..._

I turned to her angry

_-I know what Hackett said, but neither Hackett nor you are asari. None of you have ever merged with Shepard!_

I heard Garrus support my remarks with a comment that would have made me blush in normal times, " _Ah, that's for sure none of us has ever merged with Shepard."_ He had the gift of joking at inappropriate moments.

_-I can feel Shepard's spirit, I can feel how she feels ... she needs me._

I turned to Joker with an urgent voice: _"Shepard is stuck on the citadel, we must go back there, is the Normandy ready?"_

Joker hesitated

_-Liara even if the ship is ready to leave, we do not know how long it will take to return to the Helios system._

_-We must leave right now!_

Ashley grabbed my neck violently and pinned me against the wall, I could barely breathe. She said to me in a threatening tone: _"It's not because you were the commander's **little asari** that you have the right to command this ship. It's an Alliance ship, I'm the only one in charge after Shepard. "_

I felt all the contempt she had for my species in these two words, I knew she disapproved of my relationship with Shepard since Therum, but I did not imagine it was at this point. There was no way I let myself be insulted, it was out of the question that I was prevented from rescuing Shepard.

Shepard often told me that the sweetest people were those who had the most dangerous anger. She was convinced that I was so, me on my side I did not know anything: Being the daughter of Benezia and especially a pure blood asari, I was rather socially isolated. My activities as an archaeologist had led me to spend most of my time alone and as The Shadow Broker, I had only to threaten for things to be done.

I was rarely angry, but at that moment I realized that Shepard was right and Lieutenant-Commander Williams would soon find out. I could hold grudges for a long time when someone had hurt me or hurt someone dear to my heart ... Two people were in this category on the Normandy: Joker and more particularly the lieutenant-commander Ashley Williams.

Her words and her attitude made me get out of my temper, my biotic powers flared around me while I pushed her unceremoniously. She landed violently against the elevator door.

All the crew, including Vega, so proud of his musculature, realized that I was the most dangerous person aboard the Normandy; a single explosion of my biotic powers could damage the ship.

No one said anything except Garrus when he hastened to help a half knocked Ashley up. _"Williams, you should know that you never threaten the Shadow broker, especially this one, you did not see what she did to the previous broker, and it was a yagh”!_

My voice becomes dangerously serious:

**_-I do not care who is the second or the third in charge here. Shepard is alive and you will fly this damn ship to Earth._ **

Coming back to her senses, Ashley was about to say something but I cut off her speech to the other crew members:

_-Shepard rescued you more than once, didn't she? She never left any of her crew behind even when the situation seemed hopeless. She never gave you up._

**_You Ashley_ ** _! You have a short memory and no gratitude ... she saved your life on Eden Prime from the hands of Saren and the Geths, she accepted you on her ship. She never asked you for anything in return._

_When she returned two years after her death and was fighting alongside Cerberus to save the human colonies from the hands of the harvesters, she saved your life once again on Horizon. You would probably have finished digested in the bowels of this harvester vessel like all the other settlers who were kidnapped that day. You did not even thank her, all you did was to question her loyalty to the Alliance and you spat in her face your contempt when she tried to explain to you ... She had just saved your life a second time._

Ashley lowered her head in shame _"I did not know she told you ..."_

_**"She did not tell me!"** _I retorted, my voice trembling with anger.

_"But being the **little asari** of the commander, as you pointed out to me with such meanness... When we join our minds, all our memories, our joys, our fears, our disappointments are shared ... and know that you deeply hurt Shepard that day._

  _But fortunately for you, she is not the kind of spiteful person. When you were wounded on Mars, it was her who carried you on her shoulders, she was diligent to join the hospital of Huerta and she was at your side while you were still in a coma. She also saved your life during Udina's plot with Cerberus when you had just been named Spectre, the counselor planned to have you eliminated by Cerberus after using you._

_Shepard has been loyal to you, she has done the impossible for you ... many times! **When Lieutenant Commander Williams, when will you repay all these debts you owe her? When?** "_

I walked away from Ashley to try to calm myself down. Nobody said a word until Dr. Chakwas' trailing voice was heard.

_"Liara is right. If it were not for Shepard, Daniels, Donnely and I would have ended up in the filthy base of the harvesters. Ashley, I'm loyal to the Alliance, but the one who risked her life for me that day was Shepard, even though she wore Cerberus's badge on her uniform. Neither you nor the alliance moved a finger to save the colonists, you were too busy looking at the tip of your nose when the problem was elsewhere ... whether you like it or not, we're going to get our commander. "_

All the crew nodded as one man and each went to his post to take off the Normandy as soon as possible.

Ashley gave the impression of wanting to hide in an imaginary hole in the ground. Joker seemed to finally emerge from its torpor _"I checked the checklist and make heat engines, we will be gone in ten minutes max."_

I felt tired all of a sudden, Shepard was right about my anger. I blamed myself a little for my lack of control, but I did not regret it because Shepard's life was at stake.

I still had this stupid commemorative plaque in my hand.

Garrus approached me and cleared his throat:

- _What impressive demonstration T'soni, remind me not to piss you off!_

_-It's not funny Garrus ... you probably have something to calibrate in your corner there._

I turned my back on him and got ready to join Joker in the cockpit. Tali put her hand on my arm and spoke as if she chose every word so as not to make me angry:

_-The flight to Earth may be very long Liara, if at least we had a way to communicate, we could send an intervention team on the Citadel._

She was right, we did not know what system we were in, or whether the cosmodesic relays were still functional. I had to find a way to communicate.

I rushed to my cabin; I had some research to do on something that Benezia had told me when I was much younger.


	5. Universal Melding

Liara plunged herself into historical data going back to the origin of the Asaris. She went through hundreds of pages before finding the information she was looking for: Asaris had the ability to telepathically communicate universally. This practice had been lost after several thousand years, but originally a single asari could convey a message to an entire people in order to act in unison and this is partly why asari armies were described as invincible.

This universal merger was possible on one condition, all those who received the message were to have the same concern that the sender of the message. Obviously when a whole people went to war against any enemy, it was easier to focus on the same goal and to transmit a telepathic wave in that direction.

 

Liara was so lost in her thoughts that she did not hear Tali's arrival.

_-So, did you find anything, a way to convey a message to the earth?_

_\- Yes… and no. Asaris have the ability to transmit telepathic waves to each other over very long distances at supra-luminous speeds thanks to the element zero present in large quantities in our nervous system. Although heavily used in the origins of my people, this practice has disappeared over the centuries for more modern ways of communication. This was called the universal melding._

 

_\- Then why do not use it to send a message to your people so they start looking for Shepard?_

_-It is not so easy, you have to meditate, concentrate ... that I can do it. But for them to receive my message, the subject of my message must be a direct concern of their thoughts. To tell the Asaris to save Shepard, they must be thinking of the commander. And there it is more random._

_-Keelah Liara! Shepard just saved a galaxy from extinction, I'm sure every living being, asari or not, should be at this very moment thanking her. The whole galaxy knows what Shepard did and if there is a name that must be in everyone's minds, it's her. You have to try, anyway it's not like we had another way to communicate at our disposal!_

_-That's right, let's not waste more time, every minute lost endangers Shepard's life._

 

I waited for Tali to come out of my cabin and settle on the floor in a meditation position similar to the human Yoga lotus. I focused on my breathing and when I felt that I was ready enough, I repeated in my mind the forgotten words of several thousand years "Embrace universality".

 

I had the impression that my body was firing in every corner of the galaxy, billions of blue dots that corresponded to my Asari sisters lit up around me. I took a breath and stopped my mind on the thought that I wanted to convey to them: "The commander Shepard needs help on the Citadel, find her".

I repeated this thought looping like a mantra in my mind for over half an hour, before fainting on the floor, visibly emptied by the use of my eezo reserves.

 

I come back to me, with a slight vertigo. I did not know how long I had been unconscious. I began to pray to the goddess for some of my compatriots to receive my message so that they feel compelled to help the one who saved the galaxy.

I concentrated on Shepard again, trying to comfort her and reassure her. I knew she was thinking of me, then I closed my eyes and sent her all my love.

 

 

§§§§§§§§§§§

 

 

A group of asari commandos tried somehow to restart a kodiak to participate in Operation Hammer. Their shuttle had been chased by a cicosaure and they had to fight hard to finally bring it down. The kodiak had suffered rather extensive damage, which forced them to land in an area north of London about ten kilometers from the initial drop point.

They began to be submerged by the hordes of marauders and husks when a wave of red energy crossed the air and destroyed all traces of the enemy in its path. In the distance they saw the reapers' ships exploding in full flight, visibly they had managed to activate the crucible, the war was over.

They could finally focus on repairing the shuttle, which took them several hours.

Captain Shiala spoke to one of his teammates:

_-How long before the kodiak is ready to take off?_

_-A few minutes captain!_

_-Do it as soon as possible because we do not serve anything here! It is essential that this shuttle takes off, we must go to help the wounded on the front line. Since we could not participate in the operation hammer._

_Damn, I told Shepard that I will be with her for the final battle ... we found ourselves on the other side of the battle!_

 

She walked away a few steps:

_-Dr Natira, take the new recruit with you and prepare all the first aid supplies we will need for immediate use, especially those for severe injuries. Kadira, check our communications and ask Alliance HQ for the areas of the most serious casualties, including GPS coordinates. I want …._

Suddenly, she leaned against a wall with her hands pressed against her temples.

_-Capitaine, are you all right?_

No answer…

_-Capitaine?_

 

The Asari commando saw their captain stiffen suddenly, her eyes opened and became totally black as if her mind was melding with that of a partner.

If the Asaris were accustomed to the melding, none of them had ever seen an Asari proceed to a meld without a partner.

With worried faces, they watched their captain come back to her.

 Dr. Natira rushed to her.

_-What was that? You are fine?_

_\- It's Okay Doctor, it's okay ... Huntress tell me that you have completed these repairs?_

_-Yes Captain Shiala, the kodiak is ready to fly..._

 

_-I want everyone in the shuttle now, we take off. Head to the citadel, we have someone to save urgently._

Her sisters in arms looked at her without understanding...

_-I do not know how, or why, but I heard a voice asking me to find Commander Shepard on the citadel because she needs help..._

Dr. Natira turned to her: " _in all my career, I had never seen anything like this, it’s seem that you  have melded with a partner when you were totally alone_ ".

 

_-I think I melded with thousands of Asaris who were transmitting the same message: rescuing Shepard. We will try to clarify this later Doc._

_Kadira find us the quickest route to the citadel while avoiding those damn debris. Commander Shepard needs us right away._

_-Yes captain!_


	6. The wait

 Leah was still tight against me when I felt a familiar aura envelop me. It was Liara's. I opened my eyes expecting to see her face leaning over me. But there was nothing but the feeling: a reassuring sensation that brought me the comfort I needed.

Liara had explained to me that when the Asaris merged with their partner to reproduce, they established with the latter, a permanent link that could sometimes go beyond the spatial boundaries: her explanation was very scientific as she went back and forth in the piece by punctuating her explanation with gestures that subjugated me.

I smiled internally: when Liara started talking about a topic that fascinated her, it was very difficult for me to concentrate on the content of her talk, of course I tried to capture the essential, but most often I found myself subjugated by her passion, her spirit and her beauty. Each time I found myself facing this young scientist I had saved on Therum, the one who had literally stolen my heart just talking about ruins and Proteans. When I entered the Alliance army, I would have liked her to be my history teacher when I was taking my exams ... but maybe I would not have been able to take the lessons too busy admiring her.

I sighed.

Obviously, wherever she was now, Liara used this link to communicate the emotions she wanted to share with me.

Suddenly a thought crossed my mind, I sat up suddenly despite the pain, which made little Leah jump: _"We'll have a baby!”_

_-What?_ Tom and Leah looked at me shocked

_-Liara and I, we'll have a baby ... well I think._

Tom looked at me strangely, as if a horn had just pushed me in the middle of the forehead  _"It looked like you just learned it ... yet we have no way of communicating?_

Smart boy...

I passed my hand on my sore neck _"it's complicated to explain, you know Liara is an asari and she can transmit feelings by the thought ..."_

_\- She just told you?_ Leah asked innocently.

_-Hum ... not really, let's say I just understand it._

I realized that it was just as difficult for me to talk to these children about Asari reproduction as if I had to go into similar explanations for human children. Liara will undoubtedly be better placed than me to do the sex education of our daughter. "Our daughter" I repeated these words in my head, this idea filled me with hope, it was an unexpected gift that made me want to move mountains, an unexpected hope in a world almost destroyed.

I wanted to meet our child and to do that, I had to survive my injuries. I was still unable to stand up although the pain was less severe. While I was unconscious, the children had somehow tried to clean some of my wounds. I had a bandage around my skull and around my abdomen where they had applied other doses of medigel to contain the bleeding. They were really full of resources, but if relief did not arrive very quickly, I doubted I could survive in this state.

As if reading my thoughts, Tom pulled out several chocolate bars from his bag, he handed me one and gave one to his sister as well.

- _"Commander, you have to eat to regain some strength, because we do not know when we will be picked up"_.

He was surprisingly mature for his age, but I imagine that the life of an orphan did not leave him the choice. Although it was difficult, I ate laboriously: I was in agony with my ribs at every bite. I had in my mouth a metallic taste of blood that made me want to vomit but I forced myself to reassure the children.

I felt exhausted and told the children that I was going to close my eyes for a few moments. In my heart, I was afraid of not being able to wake up, afraid to be living my last moments.

 

§§§§§§§§§

 

 

Aria looked at the London sky, she did not know what Shepard had done, but the reckless human seemed to have found a way to destroy the Reapers.

They had a lot of luck. The troops of the Queen of Omega had struggled to contain the incessant waves of brutes and cannibals. During the last assault, a brute had fallen on the leader of the Blue Suns, cutting him in two: Darner Vosque was no longer ... good riddance. Aria had just had time to swing a flare that had allowed her to hide behind the carcass of a smoking meca.

The pirate queen had rarely been in such a situation: surrounded by implacable, savage enemies whose only purpose was to kill. The only way out seemed to be the half-collapsed building behind her, Bray was gone in recognition...

She roared inside hearing the cry of a banshee approaching: _“Shepard if you're the one to save the galaxy, do it now …otherwise we're all dead!”_

The words had barely left her lips, a wave of red light swept the area where she was. All the forces of the reapers disintegrated at once and the destroyers that were ravaging the city began to fall from the sky, lifeless.

Aria, who had not shed a tear since the death of her daughter Liselle, realized that she was crying: Shepard had undoubtedly softened her heart. This damn woman had managed to save the galaxy and for that she would be eternally grateful to her.

Bray came running out of the building with a group of vorchas from Gryll's Blood Pack: he saw the carcasses of destroyers reapers fall from the sky.

-" _Chief, what happened, I saw a red light"_

- _"She did it, she succeeded ..."_

- _"Is that why you're crying? »_

Aria brutally replied _«No Bray! And that does not concern you! "_

 

One of the vorchas accompanying Gryll uttered his horribly nasal voice _"If Shepard die too, good news for vorchas!"_

Gryll and Bray glared at him, they did not have time to warn him of his mistake that Aria's biotic dump, pulled him off the ground and hung him up in the air **_"you must never, never, speak of Shepard like that, if I hear one of you utter an insult or threat to her ... you will die in awful agony."_** She kept the filthy creature in the air and released him while he was on the verge of suffocation.

Gryll, looked at him on the ground " _Zart, if you want to die tell me right now, because Aria does not threaten ... she just kills, you're lucky to be alive, you moron!_ ".

Aria tried to calm her wrath: **_"Gryll take a group and try to find a way for me to get out of here."_** The vorcha nodded his head too happy to get away from the dangerous asari. Aria's voice called again " _and Gryll, take your men with you, it will prevent me from killing the next who will open his mouth to nothing"._

 

A little later, the Omega queen was still sitting on a pile of debris, she was having more and more trouble containing her irritation.

_-Bray where is the shuttle that I requested?_

She looked at the butarian: _"I assure you that if half of my troops had not been decimated during the assault, I will have already erased that stupid look from your face. I told you to find me a shuttle ... now! not two hours later! The other idiot is still not back ... stupid vorchas! "_

The butarian tapped on his omnitool hastily _"Aria we will have a kodiak in about an hour"_.

_-I wonder why I keep you at my service ... it is not difficult to find a shuttle!_

_-Aria, most of the shuttles that were not destroyed, were requisitioned for relief._

_-Bray, I do not care! You only have to requisition one too, I need it now!_

 

While she was still talking, a C-sec kodiak landed on a building not far from them. She eye tracking it and then turned to Bray " _As humans say: if you want something done,it is best to do it yourself"_.

She rushed to the fire escape and climbed onto the roof of the building. Bray arrived a few seconds later and found both of the C-sec agents on the ground at the foot of the shuttle.

_-Did you kill them Boss?_

_-Do not be stupid Bray, have you ever seen me killed people for no reason?_

Bray shook his head, aware of the manifest bad faith of the Omega's queen.

She added, _"If you did your job, I would not have had to knock out those two ... and do not give me the urge to knock you out too. Now head for the Citadel! "_

_-Aria are you sure you want to go there?_

_-Bray is there anything that stops you from hearing properly? If so, have a second pair of ears grafted to you as for the eyes!_

The butarian was well aware that if the asari wanted to get rid of him, he would have died long ago. He is emboldened...

_-Why do you want to go on the Citadel, everything is surely destroyed..._

_-Bray you’re getting on my nerves and do nut fuck me especially not right now! Hurry I have someone to find!_


End file.
